By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Although the St. Francis County general fund continues to hold its own after tough times earlier this year, quorum court members are now asking elected officials to watch their spending even tighter as the end of the year appears on the horizon.
Justices agreed Tuesday, to allow St. Francis County Clerk Elizabeth Smith to attempt to keep appropriations and spending in line so that funds are only being spent which are appropriated.
"Every year we have to do catch up ordinances so that we can appropriate money that we've already spent. As a quorum court our main priority is to set a budget and then to appropriate money according to that budget. In May of last year we had to appropriate $150,000 and then at the end of June this year we appropriated $112,000 that had been spent but was never appropriated. Every department has been checking to see if money was in their account before spending it, but I don't know if they have been checking to see if that money has been appropriated. That's where this new system would give us better checks and balances to try to keep that spending under control,"
It was suggested by justices that the County Clerk's office not issue checks once each offices appropriations had been reached, but St. Francis County Sheriff Dave Parkman and St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco both argued that there are some instances where spending cannot be avoided.
"One of the areas that we always see over spending in is at the jail and that can't be avoided with the budget that I've been given. If we've got people in the jail, we have to feed them, so that's something that we can't get around," said Parkman.
Cisco added, "Just like with the Sheriff there are times when you have to make purchases and pay bills even though the money may not have been appropriated for it. With the two month budget, it also makes it more difficult because we don't know our appropriations for 30 days after they've been made and then it's time to pay bills. For most of us, we've been concentrating on whether the money was in the bank and not whether it was appropriated."
In other business, Cisco answered questions from Justice Author Witherspoon over the recent contract problems with B&B Disposal. Witherspoon questioned the judge over a lack of communication with his office and justices in the matter saying, "I had a gentleman from B&B call me and I really didn't know what to tell him because the only information I had came from the newspaper and I don't trust them. If you had communicated with us and told us what was going on then I could have answered the questions the man had."
"Over the last three years of dealing with B&B we've had a number of complaints and I walked in one morning and had people calling saying their garbage carts had been skipped. I had people complaining that there trash was spilling out on the ground because B&B didn't come when they were supposed to and when they did come they would spill it and the residents would have to clean it up. And the last straw came when I had a man come to my office to tell me that he had been trying to get a cart for over a month and couldn't. They told him to go out to their office to get one and when he did, the gates were locked and he couldn't get in so at that point I wrote them a letter explaining that their contract was being canceled," Cisco said.
According to Cisco, attorneys from B&B and County Attorney Fletcher Long are currently negotiating to see if an agreement can be reached.
Parkman also spoke to justices asking for an additional staff member for the rest of the year as tax season approaches. According to Parkman, the collector's office has been understaffed due to layoffs last year. Justices agreed to allow Parkman to use contract labor for the remainder of the year and to allow Parkman and St. Francis County Assessor Craig Jones to budget a new employee who will be split between the two offices.
Justices also agreed to appropriate funds to Chancery Judge Ben Story's office for the purchase of a printer and the rental of a copy machine. Story petitioned the court saying that his equipment was worn out from years of use.
Work on the new Forrest City Junior High building is about 28 percent complete, and has been slowed by the weather.
"I know the farmers and people raising gardens are happy with the rain," said architect Bob Beavers. However, he said it was causing problems with the construction. He also said the roof work at Lincoln Middle School has been held up by rain.
Beavers also said there had been an effort to get more parking space paved for the beginning of the school year and the first football game.
"We put that off until July. We thought July was going to be dry. And it was the wettest July we've ever seen," he said. He said there has also been rain during August.
It was also reported that two schools, Central and Stewart, had received some damage during a recent severe storm, which was being repaired.
In other business, Mike Bender, athletic director, requested that the admission be raised for junior high and seventh grade games. The board approved a hike from $2 to $3 for junior high games, and from $1 to $2 for seventh grade games. Bender said the high school varsity game admission was set by the Arkansas Activities Association at $4.
On another matter, the board approved the bid of Turner Dairy to supply milk for the district in the coming school year. Wonder received the bid for bread.
In other business, the board voted to expel two students for the second summer term. Members voted to expel a third student for the fall semester. The incident had to do with an alleged weapon at school.
The board approved the resignation of Annette Williams, an instructional Aide at ABC School. The resignations of the following certified employees were also approved: Karen Carter, eighth grade English and junior high girls' basketball and track coach; Albert Faver Jr., Elementary Music; and Annette Wilson first grade at Stewart.
The following hires of classified personnel were approved: Lisa Batt, ABC preschool classroom; Margaret Williams, ABC preschool Classroom; Remonia Strong ABC preschool classroom instructional assistant; and Jennifer Wright, ABC preschool classroom instructional assistant.
The following recommendations for certified employment were approved: Laura Coleman, second grade, Stewart; Walter Hobbs, in-school suspension teacher, high school; Atrinna Lay, physical science, junior high; Rebecca Lee, social studies, Lincoln; Linda Luke, kindergarten, Forrest Hills; Kathy Ray, first grade, Stewart; Meredith P. Reeves, art, Central; David Scott, mathematics, Lincoln; Davya Swaite, fifth grade, Caldwell; Phyllis Taylor, oral communications and English, high school; Capt. John Wilkerson Junior ROTC, high school; and Rebecca Schmidt, first grade, Forrest Hills.
Teachers and classified personnel in the Palestine-Wheatley School District will see a 5-percent across the board pay raise as school begins next week after members of the Palestine-Wheatley School Board agreed unanimously to the raise last night.
On the recommendation of PWSD Superintendent Jimmy Allen, board members voted 8-0 to approve the raise.
In other personnel matters, board members agreed to the hiring of Terri Jo Knowlton for the ABC School in Palestine and Chris Kennon, who will serve as a science teacher at Palestine-Wheatley Junior High School in Wheatley. Kennon will replace Sam Ashworth, who was one of two teachers whose resignations were accepted last night. Patrick Quattlebaum, a physics, science and chemistry teacher at Palestine-Wheatley High School also tendered his resignation.
Board members also approved the budget for the 2002-2003 school year. According to Allen, there were no budget changes from last year. Allen also told board members that the budget was basically the same because the district didn't have an accurate account funding from the state.
In other business, the board approved several changes to the junior and senior high school handbook, one of which is a new computer policy which limits the content of websites visited by students.
"These kids are extremely smart and some of the stuff that they can find on the internet they just don't need to see. Last year I was brought in to take a look at some of the websites that students had visited and that's why I felt we needed a new policy," Allen said.
A concerned citizen addressed the Palestine City Council on a fencing matter at their regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday night.
Danny Parson told council members that the neighboring property to him, an automotive shop owned by another citizen, is a dangerous hazard and requested a fence between his property and theirs.
"He has cars on jacks near my property," Parson said. "I have small children and I just don't want to see anybody get hurt."